ATTACHMENT TO MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS’ LETTER
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
June 26, 2003
Torture, organised violence and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment
The background
“When freedom of expression is used to promote violence and terrorism, then it will have turned against the lives of others and should be curbed. Those who promote and unleash the ensuing violence and terrorism must be severely punished under our laws. Our law enforcement agents must react promptly and with vigour as they provide appropriate responses to dangerous mischief-makers. Let the MDC and its leaders be warned that those who play with fire will not only be burned, but consumed by that fire. Read us correctly.” [President Mugabe speaking at the burial of Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Swithun Mombeshora, on 21 March 2003]
The closure of Amani Trust, a non-governmental organisation involved in the rehabilitation of people affected by political violence and torture, due to severe pressure by the state and threats of bombing and arrest of directors, adversely affected around 45,000 victims around the country. [Financial Gazette – 23/01]
Concerned at the increasing allegations of state torture and harassment of suspects in police custody Justice Moses Chinhengo, officially opening the 2003 legal year in Masvingo, stated that the police should refrain from bringing the administration of justice into disrepute by brutalising and torturing citizens. He said that, “The police must act with fairness to the accused and in particular must not brutalise an accused person. The force must in general investigate in order to arrest, and not arrest in order to investigate”. [DN – 12/02] High Court judge, Justice Yunus Omerjee, opening the 2003 legal year in Mutare on 26 February echoed these sentiments when he urged police to treat accused persons fairly and in accordance with the law presuming a person’s innocence until s/he is proven guilty. He also called on police to be fair and thorough in their investigations prior to arresting and detaining individuals. Expressing strong sentiments he said, “We are living in a society where law enforcement agents no longer provide civilians with a sense of security but have become zones of torture and other forms of inhuman treatment”. [DN – 28/02]
a)State torture and violence (army, police, etc)
Soldiers indiscriminately assaulted motorists queuing for fuel along Samora Machel Avenue in Harare in early January. They were assaulted for gesticulating at the presidential motorcade as it passed them. In terms of section 16A(1)(b) of the Road Traffic (Rules of the Road)(Amendment) Regulations, 2002, SI 299 of 2002 drivers are prohibited from making “any gesture or statement within the view or hearing of the State motorcade with the intention of insulting any person travelling with an escort or any member of the escort.”
Riot police fought running battles with war veterans who were demonstrating in Bulawayo against the unfair distribution of maize at a Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depot in Bulawayo. 37 people were arrested on 3 January and charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for failing to notify police of their intention to demonstrate. [H – 7/01]
Following the murder by stabbing of an Australian tourist in Victoria Falls on 4 January the police allegedly went on a rampage, indiscriminately harassing and assaulting members of the public in the area. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) district chairman claimed to have been victimised by the paramilitary Police Support Unit, and he alleged that around 400 people were detained at the police station overnight following the murder, only to be released the following day without charge. [DN – 7/01]
On 8 January riot police fought running battles with Harare residents who had gathered in the central business district and outside Town House to protest ministerial interference in the work of the city council, as well as the State media campaign against Harare mayor, Eng Elias Mudzuri. Eight people were arrested and were due to appear in court on charges of contravening the repressive POSA. The police also arrested two people walking along First Street Mall and seized their video camera. [H and DN – 9/01] The detained individuals were released the next day after paying admission of guilt fines. Their lawyer alleged that they had been assaulted whilst in police custody at Harare Central police station, and that the MDC was making arrangements to have the victims treated at the Avenues Clinic. [DN – 10/01]
Detectives from the Law and Order section at Harare Central police station allegedly tortured the MDC MP for St Mary’s, Job Sikhala, whilst in police custody on 14 January, together with human rights lawyer Gabriel Shumba and three others. He alleged that the detectives beat him on the soles of his feet in order to extract a confession relating to the burning of a Zupco bus in Glen Norah on 13 January, as well as information about the MDC hierarchy. The detectives also allegedly subjected him to electric shocks to his feet and genitals and urinated on him while he lay on the floor with his arms and legs bound. Shumba alleged that he had been driven to an undisclosed location, where he had been subjected to electric shocks to the mouth, genitals and feet. He also alleged that detectives had assaulted him using booted feet and clenched fists. The public prosecutor did not oppose an application for the five men to be transferred to Parirenyatwa hospital for medical treatment of their injuries. [DN – 17/01] All five were released on bail after charges were preferred under section 5 of POSA for allegedly attempting to unconstitutionally overthrow the government. The charges were not related to the burning of the bus, as had earlier been indicated by the arresting details. The public prosecutor, Thabani Mpofu, indicated that he would request the Attorney General’s office to investigate the allegations of torture in police custody. [H and DN – 18/01] The alleged torture was condemned locally and internationally and the police were urged to investigate the incident by such bodies as the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, the Legal Resources Foundation, Amnesty International and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. [H – 24/01] Police set up an investigating team to look into the allegations of torture, based on the medical report received shortly after the incident, coupled with Sikhala’s statement and that of the three other accused. [SM – 26/01] However this was dismissed by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who instead called for the immediate establishment of an Independent Commission of Enquiry to investigate the matter. [DN – 28/01] In any event police allegedly ignored the court’s directive and took no further action to investigate the allegations. [S – 3/03] On 26 March the senior public prosecutor dealing with this matter, who was severely criticised by authorities for being “too soft” in this matter when he agreed that there was insufficient evidence to link the accused to the crime, was suspended on allegations of misconduct. [H – 27/03]
Lawyers representing four suspects in the murder case of Cain Nkala, a war veterans’ chief in Bulawayo, alleged in the High Court that their clients had been tortured during police interrogation to extract false confessions. [DN – 21/01] In addition, two state witnesses broke down in court and alleged that they had been threatened by police officers at Nkulumane police station to ensure that they testified against the accused persons. One witness was allegedly told that her home would be burned down, while another was assaulted by heavily armed police and threatened with charges of murder if she did not cooperate after she had been picked up for questioning on 14 November 2001. [DN – 29/01] The accused also made allegations during the trial about the torture and assault they received at the hands of the police whilst in custody in order to extract confessions from them. As the matter entered a “trial within a trial” the presiding judge, Justice Sandra Mungwira, ordered that they provide details indicating the nature and scope of the allegations in order that the State could respond adequately. [H – 18/03] As the “trial within a trial” continued it emerged that police coerced confessions from the accused by threatening to shoot one of them and to throw another into a crocodile dam if he did not tell the truth. [H – 14/05] One of the defence lawyers alleged during cross-examination that police had severely assaulted one of the accused by beating him whilst he was in handcuffs and leg irons, resulting in the accused sustaining a broken jaw. [DN – 15/05]
Several people in Hwange were seriously injured in mid-January when uniformed soldiers ran amok, beating up residents at random. Trouble broke out when one of four inebriated soldiers broke the windscreen of a Wankie Colliery truck and the driver confronted the soldiers. The soldiers allegedly attacked residents indiscriminately with sticks and other weapons. [DN – 23/01]
Three police officers from Chitungwiza police station were arrested on allegations of severely beating a man until he died at Chitungwiza General Hospital on 10 February. The man had been arrested on suspicion of theft and the post-mortem report indicated that he had sustained multiple injuries from being beaten on the head with a blunt object. [DN – 15/02]
An eight-month-old toddler sustained serious and permanent injuries after a policeman mistakenly hit her on the forehead with his baton stick when trouble broke out in a sugar queue at Savva shop in Bindura on 11 February. The baby was admitted to Bindura Hospital where she was treated for a deep cut to the forehead and swelling of her face. The policeman was not disciplined for the unlawful assault. [DN – 17/02]
On 15 February soldiers guarding the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) harassed a sub-editor of the Financial Gazette, Taungana Ndoro. A group of six soldiers allegedly seized him and forced him to roll around on the tarmac and in a pool of mud while they poured water on him as “punishment for selling out [the] country”. He was also told to simulate sexual activity whilst the soldiers watched. Ndoro was released an hour later after he had been warned that he was now under surveillance. [Financial Gazette – 20/02]
Soldiers manning queues at Batanai supermarket in Harare on 20 February allegedly assaulted Daily News photographer, Philimon Bulawayo, after he took photographs of the winding queues. The soldiers then handed him over to the police, who confiscated his camera and removed him to Harare Central police station. Here he was made to sit on the floor and detectives from the Law and Order section allegedly assaulted him again. He was later released without charge. [DN – 21/02]
A group of people arrested in Bulawayo following protests against President Mugabe staged outside the venue of a World Cup Cricket match and charged under POSA for holding an illegal demonstration told a magistrate that they had been severely tortured and assaulted by police whilst in custody at Bulawayo Central police station, and that three victims had been removed from the cell and were now missing. A sixteen-year-old boy had also been assaulted and had to be hospitalised as a result of his injuries. Magistrate Fadzai Mthombeni ordered police to investigate the allegations against the police before he released the detainees on $2,000 bail and weekly reporting conditions. [DN and Financial Gazette – 6/03]
Police in Kuwadzana Extension on 16 March fired shots in the air and released teargas in an effort to disperse MDC supporters on their way to a party rally. Officers armed with pistols and batons descended on the crowd and indiscriminately assaulted them as they were attempting to flee. Two MDC MPs, Job Sikhala (St Mary’s) and Paurina Mpariwa (Mufakose), were set upon by ZANU-PF supporters and were forced to take refuge in a maize field. A day previously in Highfield several people were injured and businesses were closed as police fought running battles with ZANU-PF supporters who were allegedly attempting to prevent an MDC rally from taking place at Zororo Grounds. Supporters from both parties started throwing stones at each other and police once again had to fire teargas to disperse the masses. [DN – 17/03]
A pedestrian in Kuwadzana was run over by a vehicle fleeing the scene of political disturbances between supporters of the ruling and opposition parties on 16 March. The MDC MP for Seke, Bennie Tumbare-Mutasa, was travelling in the vehicle at the time and was arrested by police on the scene, although he had not been driving the vehicle. [H – 17/03] The MP alleged that after he was pulled from the car around 20 riot policemen arrived and started assaulting him. Hi medical report indicated that he had suffered abrasions and multiple bruises inflicted by batons, rifle butts and booted feet. He was taken into custody and was only released around three hours later after his lawyer’s intervention. He was charged under the Firearms Act with discharging a gun in public. [DN – 19/03]
A Harare businessman sued the Minister of Home Affairs for $5 million in damages in mid-March after three policemen at a roadblock along Seke Road had assaulted him in February. Two of the officers named were Sergeant Mlotshwa and Constable Chabvanei. The police officers allegedly also stole money from the man after beating him about the head and then fled the roadblock. [DN – 19/03]
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) agents in Harare allegedly beat Steven Tonera to death on 20 March. He was suspected to have been involved in the petrol bombing of a Zupco bus during the March job stayaway. The State agents allegedly kidnapped Tonera together with two other men at Muza shopping centre in Epworth and beat them outside the police station, where Tonera died. The police did not come to his assistance. The wife of a farm manager on the Ruwa property of MDC MP for Chimanimani, Roy Bennet, was also severely assaulted on the same day after about 60 soldiers in a truck went to the farm and started indiscriminately assaulting men, women and children. Soldiers carried out a brutal retributive exercise in most high-density suburbs in Harare, where they assaulted civilians they suspected of having participated in the two-day mass stayaway action, together with police and CIO agents. [DN – 21/03] Night raids were carried out in the suburbs and MDC leadership figures were singled out for the worst of the assaults and detention. [ZI – 21/03]
Soldiers from the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and police embarked upon a retributive exercise against suspected organisers and participants in night raids in high-density areas around Harare. In Mabvuku the MDC women’s league provincial secretary and her family were severely assaulted in their home late at night on 22 March. On the same night a relative of Glen View MDC MP, Paul Madzore, was severely assaulted after he was unable to reveal the MP’s whereabouts. A group of soldiers and CIO operatives also allegedly abducted a ward councillor from his home in Glen View. Residents in Mbare and Chitungwiza were subjected to similar treatment over the weekend. [DN – 24/03]
In the city centre soldiers allegedly ran amok at a nightclub, beating up patrons who were believed to have participated in the two-day mass action. Property worth over $300,000 was destroyed during the raid. [DN – 24/03]
A Mutare magistrate, Lloyd Kuvheya, ordered an inquiry into the prolonged detention and alleged torture of MDC supporters by the police after 17 members of the opposition party including Giles Mutsekwa, the MDC MP for Mutare North, was detained for six days rather than the stipulated 48 hours. Mutsekwa was allegedly denied his essential medication for a hypertension condition and all detainees were assaulted in custody. The men were released on $3,000 bail each after being charged under POSA for allegedly organising and inciting people to engage in violence during the mass action. [DN – 25/03]
About 30 armed policemen and soldiers raided the home of the MDC MP for Budiriro, Gilbert Shoko, in the dawn hours of 22 March and severely assaulted him whilst trying to extract information about the MDC’s course of action following the deadline to government, as well as names and addresses of party members. He sustained a fractured rib and bruises on his back and buttocks. [DN – 25/03]
In defiance of a court order barring authorities with interfering with work on the farm, 1,000 farmworkers on MDC MP Roy Bennet’s Charleswood Estate, including women and children, sustained serious injuries after severe beatings by police. They were then removed from the property and dumped about 11 km from the farm. Inspector Chogugudza led the attack and the police returned the next day to ensure that the workers had not returned. Those found on the farm were assaulted once again. [DN – 28/03] The evicted workers and their families were forced to camp in the open at a township bus stop 150km south of Mutare. Various humanitarian organisations attempting to offer assistance were allegedly warned by the district administrator not to interfere or risk surveillance by state security agents. [DN – 3/04] The provincial governor of Manicaland, Oppah Muchinguri, on 6 April advised that a committee had been set up to investigate the unlawful eviction, which she described as “illegal and in violation of government policy”. She further stated that the police had acted illegally and unilaterally and their actions were unwarranted. [DN – 7/04] On 8 April High Court judge, Justice Tedius Karwi, directed that the farmworkers be allowed to return to the farm immediately after the State and the defence consented to a final order. The Ministers of Defence and Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, the Commissioner of Police and the Commander of the ZNA were also directed in the order to desist from attacking Bennet’s employees. Other respondents cited were the district administrator for Chimanimani, the officer-in-charge of Chipinge District Police, the officer-in-charge of Chimanimani and his deputy, and Joseph Mwale, a member of the CIO. [DN - 9/04]